


Flowers In Your Hair

by Sailorzeplin



Category: Polygon/McElroy Vlogs & Podcasts RPF
Genre: M/M, this is just sweet soft fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-02
Updated: 2019-07-02
Packaged: 2020-06-02 16:51:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19445608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sailorzeplin/pseuds/Sailorzeplin
Summary: When we were youngerWe thought everyone was on our sideThen we grew a littleAnd romanticized the time I sawFlowers in your hair- The Lumineers





	Flowers In Your Hair

**Author's Note:**

> im so sorry that this is rushed and not very good but its all i have to offer

It was one of those rare, peaceful days; there was no work to be done at the office, no emergency that needed tending to, no imminent work trip to plan for, a normal and quiet Saturday afternoon. Pat had been relatively productive that day, taking the time to himself to clean his apartment, get ahead on some video scripts for the week, and do some much needed shopping. But now that he was alone in his place, Charlie curled up on his chest as he zoned in and out of the movie he was watching, he couldn’t help but feel a twinge of loneliness. 

It wasn’t an uncommon emotion for him to feel on days like these, when he was alone with just himself and his thoughts. In fact, when left to his own devices, it was a regular occurrence for the self-doubting thoughts began to creep in, which was a common point of discussion with his therapist, so he was well acquainted with how to cope with them if they got bad, but for now he was content to smush his face into a couch cushion and try again to pay attention to the Hallmark movie running on the tv. 

Distractions were how he dealt with a lot of things, pulling him away from the downward spiral into easier thinking, a little bit of mindlessness, a shiny and flashy trick that steered his mind out of dangerous corners into something a little bit more friendly. However, sometimes in his attempt to steer away from bad thoughts, he landed himself in more… confusing territory. Usually it was just resurfacing memories, snippets from parts of his early life he had never remembered before, or a dawning realisation as he remembered some now useless fact he had been searching for earlier in the day, but occasionally, it led Pat to make some very interesting discoveries, like now, as his brain suddenly could not stop surfacing memories of Clayton, of filming with him earlier, of the script he was supposed to write with him next week, of the way he laughed, of his smile. Before he knew it, Pat was texting him asking if he wanted to come over, feeling oddly excited when Clayton responded with a silly little emoji smile, asking him if he needed anything from the shop before he left. 

~~~~

Clayton arrived at his door only a few moments later, cloth grocery bag in hand as he made his way inside.   
“I hope you don’t mind but… I picked up a few things for you while I was shopping.”   
“No dude, that’s great, thank you. Just uh - just unpack on the kitchen table. Here - lemme just…” Pat hurried over, moving papers out of the way, heart bursting with unknown emotion at seeing Clayton in his kitchen, soft Henley and jeans that made him look so gentle Pat’s heart almost ached. 

Clayton let the bag drop onto the table, pulling out a pack of some fancy looking craft beer and a pack of Pat’s favorite candies. Clayton blushed when he caught a glimpse of Pat’s surprised face, fiddling with the box shyly.   
“You’re always mentioning that you like them and when I saw them I just… I thought about you.”  
“Clayton that’s -“  
“Don’t mention it, it’s not that big of a deal. Just uh, I got you something else.” He reached back into the bag, gingerly removing a bundle of wrapping paper and cellophane and - oh. Flowers. Little yellow flowers wrapped in brown paper, arranged within sprigs of leaves and baby’s breath bunches. Clayton looked nervous as he held them out to Pat, averting his eyes and flushing all the way from the tips of his ears to his neck.   
“They’re lovely Clayton but you didn’t have to go to all this trouble, really. I’ll pay you back let me just get my wallet.”  
“No uh, there’s really no need. I mean… they’re a gift.”  
“Oh. Oh. Okay well, at least let me find a vase to put them in or something, so I can put them on the table.” Pat felt a little bit frazzled by the attention, painfully aware of how fast his heart was beating in his chest. He finally found a vase, tucked away under his kitchen sink, and filled it carefully with water, taking it back to Clayton so he could put the flowers in. Clayton still looked a little nervous when he set the vase on the table for him, and as he unwrapped the flowers and drop them in the water, Pat noticed him pulling a small yellow one out, holding his breath as Clayton leaned in and tucked it behind his ear.   
“Yellow suits you.” he said softly, and like it hadn’t even happened he had pulled back, popping a cap from one of the beers and making his way to the couch, leaving Pat dazed in the kitchen, surrounded by the sandalwood scent of Clayton and the rush of blood in his ears. 

~~~~

An hour later and both Pat and Clayton were a little bit tipsy, open bottles of beer in their hands as they focused their attention on another cheesy Hallmark movie, this time set in some rural fucking country town with more characters that Pat truly couldn’t give a shit about. He was more focused on the feeling of the flower petals currently tickling his ear, the way Clayton’s hands wrapped around the neck of his beer bottle, the way his collar bones just began to peek out of the collar of his shirt. It was intoxicating, giving him a buzz greater than any beer could, almost urging him to reach out to Clayton, to drag him into a kiss and never let him go. But that was where the rational side of him kicked in, stopping him from making any action, reminding him that Clayton was his friend, that Clayton was his very straight friend who was also his coworker for Christ’s sake, and that doing anything was a bad idea.

Fortunately, Pat found that drinking more beer was enough to begin to quiet the logical side of his brain, and he began to move closer to Ckayton on the couch, close enough to almost touch, before breaking the smooth silence that had been stretching between them.   
“Clayton?” And his voice sounded alien to his ears, nervous and pitched strange and so… needy that Pat wanted to curl in on himself when the other man turned to look at him. But Clayton, thank god, seemed to understand what was being conveyed through that one word, because before Pat knew it, he was being pulled in, and he found that when he was sitting on Clayton’s lap, there was no better way to feel happy.


End file.
